IF you drove from Peterborough to John O'Groats 8,000 times, you would have released the same amount of carbon emissions as the region's patio heaters.
Many people probably don’t realise that the stainless steel devices which allow us to sit in the garden at night without shivering are having a devastating effect on the environment.
In the wake of a new report, city environmentalists are today ca
lling on people to pull on a jumper instead of splashing out on the heaters which range in price from about £99 up to hundreds of pounds.
Their plea has come in the wake of a report which revealed that 62,000 households in the East of England owned or planned to own patio heaters, which emit 3,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide between them in a two-month period.
And according to the Energy Saving Trust’s (EST) Green Barometer – which reports on environment issues – national ownership of the heaters is due to nearly double from 1.2 million to 2.3 million in the near future.
Philip Sellwood, chief executive of the EST, which has a base in the city’s Cowgate, said: “We are calling for responsible retailers to reconsider the sale of patio heaters in light of the substantial amount of carbon emissions they produce.
“Why don’t people just wear a jumper?
“People are also influencing the larger, more damaging, commercial sector with a third of pub-goers choosing pubs where there is a patio heater.
“Landlords are helping to make patio heaters desirable – which they are not.”
Richard Olive, from Peterborough’s Friends of the Earth, agreed.
He said: “I do not think people are aware that these things emit so much carbon dioxide.
“It is crazy that people sit outside with these heaters on.
“Many pubs and cafés have introduced or increased the amount of patio heaters they have since the introduction of the smoking ban so punters do not end up shivering while having a cigarette outside.”
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